I'm trying to decide what brewing method is the best for myself at my office. I do an 8 cup press pot every morning that I split with my wife and take to work in a tumbler. I have a Hario Skerton that I can take to work and use. I'm thinking maybe a Chemex with a Kone but thats kind of pricey. I thought about a clever or pourover but I prefer more body (like a French Press or the Chemex w/ Kone). I thought about a single serve Espro because that has had me interested for a while. I also need to consider my water. We have good spring water at work and there is a clover (I think) brand water heater. My guess is the water comes out at about 175-185 degrees but that isn't really hot enough. I don't know how happy I will be to have to put my water in the microwave every time so I may want to get an electric kettle (something like the Bonavita Temp controlled goose-neck electric kettle but that puts things a little too pricey for me). I'd really love to keep initial setup to around $50 +/-$20. Any thoughts or other choices would be appreciated. We have "coffee" at work but it is undrinkable (really, not in a snobbish way).

I'm trying to decide what brewing method is the best for myself at my office. I do an 8 cup press pot every morning that I split with my wife and take to work in a tumbler. I have a Hario Skerton that I can take to work and use. I'm thinking maybe a Chemex with a Kone but thats kind of pricey. I thought about a clever or pourover but I prefer more body (like a French Press or the Chemex w/ Kone). I thought about a single serve Espro because that has had me interested for a while. I also need to consider my water. We have good spring water at work and there is a clover (I think) brand water heater. My guess is the water comes out at about 175-185 degrees but that isn't really hot enough. I don't know how happy I will be to have to put my water in the microwave every time so I may want to get an electric kettle (something like the Bonavita Temp controlled goose-neck electric kettle but that puts things a little too pricey for me). I'd really love to keep initial setup to around $50 +/-$20. Any thoughts or other choices would be appreciated. We have "coffee" at work but it is undrinkable (really, not in a snobbish way).

Use a Clever with a gold filter. I use that, and the resulting brew is hard to distinquish from a french press.

Len

"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674

I forgot to list the aeropress (also been very interested in getting one). My concern with that is it may take more time to clean but I guess with the time I save with brewing (I think the brew times are shorter on the aeropress) that would give me the extra time to clean.

dyqik Said:

Either of the above will work fine with a standard electric kettle as well, as they don't need a fancy pour. So add $20-30 or so for that.

I've never used an electric kettle (at home I use a stove top, take it off the heat for about 15-25 seconds and pour and it gets my temp around 200 degrees. Will an electric kettle just boil; the water or is it below boiling? Maybe if I just bring a thermometer, unplug and time how long it will take to get down to proper brewing temp that would work.

Jfromhouston Said:

Skerton - $0Aeropress - $26Able disk - $13Use water from work.

$37 total output on equipment. Scrounge around for a few more bucks and add it to the remaining $13. Buy a bag of coffee and call it done!

I don't know much about the aeropress, can it brew at a lower temp than typical brewing devices? If so, what is the minimum temperature? I will check the temp of our hot water to see what it is for sure.

I don't know much about the aeropress, can it brew at a lower temp than typical brewing devices? If so, what is the minimum temperature? I will check the temp of our hot water to see what it is for sure.

Definitely! The manufacturer actually recommends 175 water. Their are a TON of different methods with a ton of different brew temps for the aeropress out there. If you have 175 available, I'd work with that to eliminate the kettle factor at work.

Cleanup is super easy for the product. Take off the cap, pop out the puck (dont forget your disk) and rinse it off. Done.

I've never used an electric kettle (at home I use a stove top, take it off the heat for about 15-25 seconds and pour and it gets my temp around 200 degrees. Will an electric kettle just boil; the water or is it below boiling? Maybe if I just bring a thermometer, unplug and time how long it will take to get down to proper brewing temp that would work. .

An electric kettle will bring water to a rolling boil, then shut off. Usually 30s of swirling the water around inside is enough to bring the water down to brewing temperature for Aeropress (for brewing at 200F) or CCD as there's a lot of coffee grounds and brewer material to bring up to temperature for not so much water. Similarly, the glass and metal in a FP take a bit of heat out of the water, so even though you are using more water there, the steep temperature is similar.

The Aeropress comes with instructions that use cooler water (170-180F), a very high ratio of coffee to water and short steep time to brew - this gives a tasty smooth coffee, but isn't the most efficient or necessarily the best at bringing out origin flavors. I use it at a higher temperature and lower ratio, with a longer steep using the inverted method, so it's closer to a small FP in character, but you have the option to work with lower temps, and that might be the way to get going initially.

I use an aeropress at work and it is extremely easy. I set the water in a cheap Aroma 1.5L kettle to boil and brew the regular way. I have a small $10 scale that I use. Any hand grinder works fine for aeropress.

I wet my filter and grind my coffee while the water is boiling. Once it has boiled, I do as follows.

Pour 275ml of 195-200*F water onto coffee. Stir for 3 seconds.

Seal chamber with plunger and wait until 1:20.

Remove plunger, stir, and begin plunging at 1:30.

Aim to finish plunging at 2:00.

Stir the finished cup, pop the grounds puck into the garbage, and give the aeropress a rinse. I find that rinsing in hot water and using a paper towel or two to wipe it down does the trick. Every week I will do a more formal cleaning, but I never get any off-flavors from oils. A Disk filter will suit your needs if that is the type of coffee you enjoy. I personally love the ease of paper in the office and use the Disks here and there. The S-filter goes everywhere with me when I travel.

All in all, it takes 10min to make a cup of coffee using the Aeropress in my office. I only boil about 15oz of water, so it goes fast.

Either way, it's affordable, easy, and the coffee tastes great. I've tried other methods (clever, pour over) and this is by far the easiest!

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